Miller column: Changes that would make HS hoops better

Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 11:00 AM.

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“What you have to keep in mind in high school is you have girls and guys playing on the same floor and I don’t know if girls would be strong enough (for the longer 3-point shot). Some girls would,” Marshburn said. “If we moved it back, the girls would have to play by the same line, where in college guys may have one gym and the girls have another gym.”

Restricted area

With the 3-point line extended, which would force more dribble penetration, I would also put a restricted area under the basket for the purpose of preventing defensive players from camping down low to draw an offensive foul.

The charge/offensive foul is the most overly called rule in high school and college basketball. Players are often called for an offensive foul simply because gravity and their momentum after a layup forces them back down to earth and they collide with a defender.

It would certainly limit the number of times centers take charges against smaller guards when they should actually try to block a shot.

“It would be clear-cut for the officials,” Grimes said. “It takes the judgment out of the officials on whether it is a block or a charge.”

Of all the high school sports we cover here at The Daily News, basketball is among my favorite.

While having never actually played the sport, minus a couple of years in recreation, there’s just something enjoyable about covering local hoops, whether a game involves two ranked teams in a conference showdown or one of those grueling 30-29 contests that features an overabundance of fouls.

I think it’s this way because, with so many games, it allows me to get to know the coaches and players a little more, compared to other sports. Heck, coaches will sometimes come to the scorers table during a game to a chat for a brief moment.

Still, there needs to be changes made to high school basketball in order to improve the product. I doubt these changes will be implemented, given some would require new equipment, a remodeled court or an additional person on the scorers table, but it’s fun to imagine what the sport would be like if they were incorporated.

And I’m not the only one who thinks some changes would do the game good. Coaches Tony Marshburn of Northside and White Oak’s Chris Grimes also believe some revamped rules could make the game better.

Extend the arc

The 3-point line in high school basketball is 19 feet, 9 inches, which is too short and creates a bad habit of some players thinking they have good shooting range. How often do you see some 5-foot-nothing kid come off the bench and start throwing up 3-pointers as if his life depended on it?

The 3-point shot is an art, not something each player should be wanting to shoot in games.

Players these days are making 3-pointers as easy as layups and it appears as if they make them more than free throws — although poor foul shooting is a different topic for a different time.

An extended arc would promote better fundamentals in dribbling and driving to the basket with an attempt to draw a foul.

Still, Marshburn is “content” with the 3-point line distance.

“Where it is now you still can make it part of the offense,” he said. “If you get it too far out, some coaches are going to struggle with the offense and I like having the 3-point line a part of the offense.”

Marshburn also raised a question of whether an extended line would be implemented for both the boys and girls.

“What you have to keep in mind in high school is you have girls and guys playing on the same floor and I don’t know if girls would be strong enough (for the longer 3-point shot). Some girls would,” Marshburn said. “If we moved it back, the girls would have to play by the same line, where in college guys may have one gym and the girls have another gym.”

Restricted area

With the 3-point line extended, which would force more dribble penetration, I would also put a restricted area under the basket for the purpose of preventing defensive players from camping down low to draw an offensive foul.

The charge/offensive foul is the most overly called rule in high school and college basketball. Players are often called for an offensive foul simply because gravity and their momentum after a layup forces them back down to earth and they collide with a defender.

It would certainly limit the number of times centers take charges against smaller guards when they should actually try to block a shot.

“It would be clear-cut for the officials,” Grimes said. “It takes the judgment out of the officials on whether it is a block or a charge.”

Marshburn agreed that a restricted area — which the NBA and college basketball already have — would help the officials.

“It’s an easier call for them,” he said. “It also helps the defenders because it would give them a sense of awareness.”

Shot clock

A shot clock by far is what is missing in prep basketball.

A shot clock of 35 or 40 seconds would speed games up and prevent some teams from holding the ball in an effort to slow fast-pace teams down.

Grimes disagreed, saying “logistics” would make it difficult to have a shot clock mainly because of the number of people that need to be trained to operate the technology. Marshburn agreed with Grimes on that, but added he would still like have a 35-second shot clock.

“I feel it may better prepare our guys for the next level,” he said. “There’s still plenty of times for strategy.”

The only states with a shot clock are California, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Dakota, South Dekota and Washington.

Tourney time

Unlike in college where a conference tournament champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, prep hoops tournaments in the state only benefit the teams seeded third or lower.

Under the current system, if a team besides the first or second seeds wins its league tourney, it automatically earns its conference’s second seed for the NCHSAA playoffs.

Keep that rule. It gives teams one more chance to qualify for the playoffs or better their postseason position. Plus, conference tournaments are exciting and, as Marshburn told me years ago, “for many kids, this is their ACC tournament.”

Still, incentives need to be made for the top two seeds to win their league tourney. If a regular-season conference champion wins the tournament, it should keep its top seed for the playoffs. However, if the second seed wins, it should be No. 1 for the playoffs.

“I kind of agree that for the one and two, there’s no incentative to win it,” Marshburn said. “You are not going to improve your seeding. But in the same breath, I’ve always believed the champion is your regular-season champion.”

Grimes, though, would make more adjustments to league tourneys.

“I’m also in favor of it being played at a neutral site. Or at least the semifinals and finals,” he said. “The neutral site would be rotated among conference schools.”

4-game nightmare

Coaches and athletic directors are finding nights longer and longer since most area schools have four games in one night — JV girls, JV boys, varsity girls and varsity boys.

Our three local conferences — the Coastal 3-A and the East Central 2-A — have different ideas on how to address these issues.

The Coastal Conference’s JV games run shorter as quarters are only six minutes long, compared to seven minutes in the ECC. The CPC has eight minute quarters.

Much has been said about the idea of moving JV games to different sites or to different days than varsity, which would be good, although with today’s gas prices, schools officials would likely nix that idea.

Marshburn said in an ideal world each school would have separate courts for varsity and JV, which would allow the varsity games to actually start on time.

“I know I’m speaking about the impossible with the economy and budget,” he said. “There’s been so many ways tried and I really don’t know the best way. I know playing four games on Tuesday night is tough on the kids. If you have one overtime game, it makes for a real long night.”

A long night, indeed, not just for players and coaches but for everyone else involved.

“It’s brutal on everybody, parents, kids, the press and coaches,” Grimes said. “I’ve heard of other conferences maybe doing JV on Monday and varsity on Tuesday or JV at one site and varsity at the opposite.”

Playoffs

Both Marshburn and Grimes had other changes they would make, not just about the game itself, but also in regards to the sport’s landscape, locally and beyond.

The two coaches believe the basketball playoff format needs to be similar to football, where the NCHSAA subdivides the four classifications and awards eight state champions.

“Off the cuff, I think making three classifications and within the three classifications, do what football does and subdivide the playoffs,” Grimes said. “From an enrollment standpoint, they (schools) are a little closer together.”

And as for Marshburn?

“If football is going to get two state champions (from each class), I feel basketball needs to get the same thing,” said Marshburn, who has also helped coached football at Northside. “I don’t understand why football is the only sport that crowns two state champions.”

Extra

One thing Marshburn would change is the numbers of fouls players can have before disqualification. A player is disqualified with five fouls.

“I would go to six fouls,” Marshburn said.

Prep sports writer Chris Miller can be contacted via email at chris.miller@jdnews.com or by calling 910-219-8472.